Ukraine’s trains have played a central role in the country’s defense against Russia – taking people out of harm’s way and bringing in aid. They keep moving thanks to tireless railway workers who have been risking their lives. DW met one of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4RwbnUWj70&ab_channel=DWNews
How admirable!
From the United States in the 1860’s to Ukraine today railroaders during wartime are the same the world over, they know how to get it done!
Please keep this EXCLUSIVELY railroad-centric, until at least the time someone reports on or posts Posner’s talk on the 19th
(Although I am tempted to find and link here that Far Side cartoon with the porcupine family, as this, too, probably won’t last too long.)
Personally, my favorite Far Side cartoon is “The Age Of Beets.”
It’s on a par with “Why The Dinosaurs Really Went Extinct.”
What will be the link to Posner '77 and his rail talk?
There was a Webcast link provided by NUTC, but it is no longer live… I have a request in to see if the presentation will be available as a saved resource.
Trains Magazine covered it, and here is their pay-to-view synopsis:
Just the opposite in Belarusia. Railway workers slowed Russian supplies.a
The Belarusian railway saboteurs who helped thwart Russia’s attack on Kyiv (msn.com)
Another article about Uraine efforts to keep rail lines running.
Ukraine is relying on its secret weapon in the war against Russia: Trains (msn.com)
Article about both Ukraine RRs shelled and another country having sabatage.
Explosion damages railway bridge in Russia: ‘It was a sabotage’ (msn.com)
What the???
Russian gas producer Gazprom GAZP.MM said on Friday its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point stood at 43.6 million cubic meters (mcm), slightly down from 44.5 mcm on Thursday.
An application to supply gas via another major entry point, Sokhranovka, was rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom said. (Jerusalem Post)
Can we get these guys to take over Amtrak?
According to Wikipedia the Ukrainian Railways employed 403000 in 2011… likely similar numbers now. Most are likely employed on the passenger side as European Railways are more passenger oriented than we are.
In the Great Patriotic War, they would have been given “Stalin’s Aspirin” (a pistol bullet to the base of the skull - guaranteed to cure your headache). They were either members of the Railway Troops branch of the Red Army of Workers and Peasants (RKKA) and, therefore soldiers, or, if civilian employees of the Ministry of Railways, had been placed under military discipline by order of the Supreme Soviet. Work slowdowns, or other forms of deliberate obstructionism would be still regarded as insuborination in any military. Disobediance to the orders of a superior in time of war has almost always been a capital crime in any army and often punished by summary execution. The pistol virtually all officers wear on their belt in every army, in addition to being a badge of office, is also a silent warning.